Birmingham Zoo names officers for 2021-22 board of directors

The Birmingham Zoo recently announced the new officers of its board of directors for the 2021-22 term.

Nancy Collat Goedecke, chairman and CEO of Mayer, will serve as chairman of the 19-member board, according to a Jan. 28 news release from the zoo.

Serving as vice chair of the zoo’s board is Thomas E. Sisson, who is the managing member of the Birmingham office of Warren Averett, serves on the firm’s executive committee and has worked with the company for 40 years.

The board treasurer will be Austin Davis, who serves as executive director of national accounts and loan syndications for the Wholesale Bank at Synovus. Prior to joining Synovus in 2018, Davis spent 21 years at Wells Fargo Bank serving commercial and industrial clients in Alabama and Mississippi.

Serving as board secretary will be Lee McKinney,  a shareholder with McKinney Capital.

The new officers, who began their terms effective Jan. 1, “are respected and accomplished individuals, serving alongside an impressive group of the Birmingham community’s business and civic leaders,” said Chris Pfefferkorn, the zoo’s president and CEO. “Their guidance and support is invaluable as we work together to propel this beloved organization forward into a successful future.”

In addition to running Mayer, a family-owned electric supply company that has been in existence for 90 years, Goedecke has spent a lot of time volunteering with nonprofits in the Birmingham area. She has served as chair of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and chair of the Birmingham Business Alliance. Goedecke has also served on the boards of the Birmingham Zoo, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama, McKinney Capital, Smile-A-Mile, the UAB Leadership Council and United Way of Central Alabama.

Davis, who has degrees from Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Alabama, has participated in Leadership Birmingham and the Children’s Hospital of Alabama’s Committee of the Future. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and was one of the founding members and first president of the Birmingham Zoo’s Junior Board in 2010.

McKinney also sits on the boards for the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association and Smile A Mile. He received a degree in marketing from UAB and also attended the University of South Alabama.

In addition to the newly appointed officers, the zoo’s board includes the following:

► Robert Aland, Immediate Past Chair (SouthState Bank)

► Alexia B. Borden (Alabama Power Company)

► Leigh Collier (Wells Fargo Bank)

► Jack Darnall (Brasfield & Gorrie)

► Kelvin Datcher (City of Birmingham, Office of Mayor Randall L. Woodfin)

► Will French (Dunn Investment Company)

► Joseph “Joe” B. Hampton (Spire Inc.)

► Gaynell H. Hendricks (Jefferson County)

► Joshua Jones (E source)

► Randall “Randy” W. Jordan (Bryant Bank);

► Philippe W. Lathrop (Lathrop Helmers and Associates/Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.)’

► Mary Pat Lawrence (Protective Life Corporation)

► Wally Nall III (Nall Development Corporation)

► Jerry F. Perkins Jr. (Vulcan Materials Company)

► Britt Redden (Community Volunteer)

A nonprofit, the zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.